July 12, 2007

"These are tough, tough boys here"

Geoffroy Lequatre was among the battalion of riders who were injured today. Lequatre went down just after the feedzone, and likely lost a battle with a lunch bag (or musette -- whether his or another rider's is uncertain). Lequatre sat beside the road for several minutes while race doctors worked on his arm and the race went away up the road, with the pace only getting faster as the day went on.

BBC World's “Phil S” was packing up his equipment, ready to leave when a compatriot told him there was another rider coming in:

The crowd had dwindled away and not many people were there to witness the single bravest moment of stage five, 44 minutes after stage winner Filippo Pozzato nosed across the line and 21 minutes after the penultimate finisher.

His face contorted with agony, shorts ripped to shreds, thigh looking like a side of meat, and fingertips all stripped of skin, Lequatre crossed the line and simply collapsed in tears. These are tough, tough boys here.